Cracking the Code: Analysing and Disrupting Patterns in Combat
In the realm of martial arts, sparring serves as a platform where skill, strategy, and intuition intertwine. It is combat chess, an intricate dance of anticipation, reaction, and calculated moves.
As humans, we are pattern creatures by nature. Our brains are wired to recognise and make sense of patterns in the world around us.
We seek familiarity and predictability as a means of understanding and navigating our environment. This inherent inclination extends to combat situations, where combatants may unknowingly fall into predictable patterns during sparring.
By studying and analysing these patterns, martial artists can gain valuable insights into their opponents' tendencies and exploit them strategically.
One powerful technique that can elevate your sparring prowess is the art of creating and breaking patterns.
By skillfully establishing patterns and then deliberately shattering them, martial artists can deceive opponents, gain a tactical advantage, and pave the way for successful attacks.
In this article, we will delve into the power of patterns in sparring, exploring how they can be utilised to manipulate opponents and gain an upper hand.
We will discuss how to analyse not only your opponent but also yourself for predictable patterns. How to create patterns to lull your opponent into a false sense of security, then how to break them for successful attacks.
Analysing Patterns
Everyone has a pattern, you may think you don’t, but you do. It could be as simple as repeating the same block, or always following up your punches with the same kick. When we start to advance our sparring into the realm of strategy, recognising both yours and your opponents patterns is the first step.
All patterns follow a stimuli and fall into one of these categories:
- Repetitive sequence of techniques: Through my martial arts experience both training and teaching, I have observed students who practice a specific combination until it becomes autonomous. What tends to happen is that they become predictable. A good fighter will see right through it after seeing it only a couple of times, they may get hit the first time but they will quickly adapt and start to use it against their opponent. Recognising and acknowledging our own tendencies is the first step towards overcoming them. Once we are aware of our patterns, we can intentionally disrupt them, introducing unexpected variations, feints, or timing changes which will be discussed later in this article.
- Predictable movement: In the same way that individuals can develop repetitive techniques, they can also fall into patterns of repetitive movement. Within this category, we are referring to movement in terms of the spatial positioning of the body. From my experience predictable movement can manifest in various forms, such as a preference for moving in a specific direction, a noticeable dip or shift in body position before launching an attack, or a habitual sequence of footwork patterns. By carefully observing and analysing an opponent's repetitive movement patterns, martial artists can anticipate their actions, pre-emptively counter their attacks, or strategically position themselves for advantageous strikes.
- Specific reactions: Specific reactions are probably the easiest pattern to analyse as it can be controlled by the attacker. My personal favourite is to start with a few jabs to analyse how my opponent reacts. The objective is to observe whether they block, avoid, or attempt to counter attack. If they decide to block I'm then looking to see if they are over committing to the block and leaving an opening or if they have a tight defence. If they avoid how do they move, does it become a predictable movement as outlined above. Lastly if they counter attack, what do they do, does it leave an opening that I can exploit with my own counter attack. These are all examples of a reaction to a jab, there can be hundreds of different outcomes because everyone is different. Another important reaction to consider is one that is fairly automatic for all humans. When we feel a force we react by applying a force in the opposite direction, when pushed we push back. It takes a lot of training to be able to feel this reaction but experienced grapplers will notice it in an instant and be able to redirect the force to their advantage.
Creating Patterns
Creating patterns in sparring involves establishing a series of repetitive techniques or movements that give the illusion of predictability. Our specific reactions can also be used, but due to the fact that we are reacting to the opponent its harder to use them to our advantage.
Pattern creation serves as a powerful tool for controlling the flow of the fight and luring opponents into a false sense of security. By mastering specific combinations or sequences, martial artists can condition their opponents to expect certain responses, setting the stage for strategic deception.
The easiest way to show this is by using a scenario and building a pattern with you right now.
We are sparring, both in a left food lead stance. You determine that you want to land a right leg low kick to my left lead leg thigh.
You start by throwing the kick straight to the leg to check my reaction, which is a swift lift of my leg for a shin check.
You continue to attempt the same kick as the sparring continues and each time my reaction is the same, you now know that my specific reaction to the low kick is a shin check.
In order to overcome this specific reaction you make the leg kick harder to detect by using a combination and hiding it behind a left then right punch.
Success, the left right punch caused my reaction to be focused on the hands and not the kick allowing it to make contact with my left thigh.
As we continue sparring you have success with the combination a second time but as you attempt it a third time I defend the kick with the shin check. I have now clued onto your repetitive sequence.
We will put a pause on the sparring as I will explain how you can now break your pattern in order to make it successful.
Breaking Patterns and Setups
Breaking established patterns is a crucial skill for martial artists seeking to gain a tactical advantage in sparring. As opponents become familiar with our repetitive techniques or movements, they can easily anticipate our next move and effectively counter or defend our attacks.
However, by intentionally disrupting our own patterns, we can introduce an element of surprise and catch our opponents off guard. Breaking patterns involves deviating from the expected sequence, timing, or rhythm to create confusion and exploit vulnerabilities.
Bruce Lee outlined 5 types of attacks in his Jeet Kune Do system. These were further refined by Joe Lewis and it is his version I present here.
- Direct attack - We have already applied this with the direct kick to the leg. Additionally, the combination of left, right punch, right kick is three direct attacks.
- Indirect attack - An attack that uses a faint or fake to throw the opponents timing off. The initial direct attack kick to the leg can easily be changed into an indirect attack with the use of a fake/faint. To achieve this you would start to throw the kick with enough intent to make me do the shin check, stop, then throw the kick as I lower my check leg back to the ground. In this attack you have drawn out my specific reaction, then changed the timing to break my pattern making the attack successful.
- Immobilisation attack - Using trapping and limb attacks to nullify the opponents capacity to attack and defend. By making a change to the left right punch combo we can change it into an immobilisation attack to setup the leg kick. Instead of punching you can trap my guard turning my attention to restoring my defence rather than defending the leg kick.
- Broken rhythm attack - Changing the speed/timing, direction/angle, distance or essence of an attack to disrupt the opponent.Lets continue using the left right punch right kick combo. Now that I have realised your pattern and can successfully defend it you need to break it to catch me out. The first way will be a timing change. Currently the combo is one after the other so a 1,2,3 rhythm. If you add a pause after the second punch before the kick it will throw my timing off. The rhythm will become a 1,2,pause,3 where I do my check on the pause and your attack lands on the 3.Another option is to change the angle of the attack. Using the same combo with the same 1,2,3 rhythm you can change the angle of the kick by taking a slight step out, now instead of aiming for my leg which I am doing a shin check with aim for my other leg.
- Combination attack - Using a combination of multiple attacks from the options listed here. This is already being used in our original scenario, with the above attack types in play we can make our combos even harder to defend.
Conclusion
Mastering the art of creating and breaking patterns is a valuable skill for martial artists looking to gain a strategic advantage in sparring. By analysing and understanding patterns, both in ourselves and our opponents, we can exploit predictability and create openings for successful attacks.
Recognising repetitive sequences of techniques, predictable movement patterns, and specific reactions are crucial steps in the pattern analysis process. By studying these patterns, martial artists can anticipate their opponent's actions, pre-emptively counter their attacks, or strategically position themselves for advantageous strikes.
Creating patterns can be a powerful tool for controlling the flow of a fight. By establishing repetitive sequences or movements, martial artists can condition opponents to expect certain responses, setting the stage for strategic deception. However, breaking established patterns is equally important. By intentionally disrupting our own patterns, we introduce an element of surprise, catch opponents off guard, and exploit vulnerabilities.
Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do system outlines various types of attacks, including direct attacks, indirect attacks, immobilisation attacks, broken rhythm attacks, and combination attacks. Each of these attack types can be utilized in sparring to break patterns and set up successful strikes.
By mastering this art, we can keep opponents guessing, maintain control of the fight, and achieve victory through strategic deception and well-timed attacks. So, embrace the power of patterns, analyse, create, and break them to elevate your sparring skills to new heights.